public/subjects/tron/README.md

Tron

Objectives

In this project you will have to create your own Tron AI snake.

Getting started

You will need to create a public repository with the name tron. Next you need to create a file named ai.js. It must respect the instructions given.

Controls

• arrows or scroll to move step by step
• shift will make it fast
• you can click anywhere on the progress bar to seek into the history

Rules

• Your AI has to move every turn (it can not stay still)
• Every time the AI moves somewhere the AI leaves a color trail.
• the AI can only move to a blank tile.
• the AI can not move out of the map (100 x 100)
• the AI can only move to its left, forward or its right. (Moving backward is suicide as it would hit its own trail !)
• If too much CPU power is required to decide where to go, the AI dies.
• If two AIs moved to the same spot, both of them die.
• The AI has to survive as long as it can.

The game ends

• Once no players can make a move the player with the biggest score wins

Useful files

• index.html (Game Engine)

• hard.js

• license-to-kill.js

• random.js

• right.js

• snail.js

How to write your AI

• Create ai.js at the root of your repository.
• Copy the contents of random.js, and paste it to ai.js.
• You may now edit the update function which is called each turn.

⚠️ Do not rename the update function ⚠️
as it's the function that the worker will try to run to test your AI.

How to test your AI

AI AT ROOT

• You may test your ai locally. For that, create a folder and give it a name. Inside the folder you created, insert this file index.html.
• After that, create a simple web server by running the following command:

$ &>/dev/null python3 -m http.server &

Now open your browser at the specified port. You'll use an appropriate command for your system:

• Linux: xdg-open
• macOS: open
• Windows: start

xdg-open 'http://localhost:8000'

• You can set a seed by adding the variable seed to the url params.

• You can add up to two AI's by adding the variable ai to the url params. The AI's will be separated by a +

  • You can add a local file by specifying the relative path.
  • You can add a online raw file by specifying the url to that file.

A example of a url with local files using the default AI ai.js against the AI hard.js would be http://localhost:8000/?ai=hard.js+ai.js&seed=2077349364.

A example of a url with online files would be http:?/localhost:8000/?ai=https://((DOMAIN))/git/root/public/raw/branch/master/subjects/tron/ai/hard.js+ai.js.

Note: You can test a local AI against and online one.

• Open the inspector of the browser used and disable the cache
• let's change the update function so that your AI only goes forward.

Replace this line just before the return of the update function:

const available = coordsInBound.filter(isFree);

// And I return a random available coord
return pickRandom(available);

...with this line:

// always return the first free coordinates
return coordsInBound.filter(isFree)[0];

• save the file, push the changes and re-run the game in the browser. If the cache was correctly disabled, you have changed your AI behaviour from a random pick of available moves to only going forward.

• To understand better the way of controlling your AI, read the comments inside the AI file and do a lot of testing.

• When peer-corrected, you AI will be competing against other AIs. Be aware that there will be the possibility for the peer-correcter to use his or her own AI.

May the best tron win :)

Have fun and good luck.